1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to methods and devices for facilitating the viewing of animated and multi-dimensional images and otherwise designed for producing optical displays with lens and reflective surfaces or mirrors, and, more particularly, to an assembly for use in packaging and on consumer and other products for producing images, such as 3-dimensional, colored images, with or without motion, from viewing of interlaced images illuminated by a plurality of parabolic mirrors or reflective surfaces with parabolic shapes or cross sections.
2. Relevant Background
In the competitive packaging and retailing industries (and especially, the beverage industry), marketing professionals and designers struggle to develop the individuality of their product. Most product differentiation is accomplished with the container and its packaging. In many eases, there is little difference between the contents and quality of two competing products. The differences are often ones of consumer perception of the products, and, in large part, consumer perceptions of quality and desirability are generated through creative packaging that leads to product identification and differentiation by package recognition and “shelf appeal.” While there is an increasing demand for creative packaging, there is also an ongoing need to remain cost competitive. As a result, product differentiation typically needs to be achieved with minimum or even no added cost for a packaged product to be widely adopted by the packaging and retailing industries.
For years, lenticular graphics and lens systems have been used to produce eye-catching graphics for packaging, displays, stadium cups, postcards, printed goods, and other products (e.g., products for which shelf appeal is important or desired). Elaborate graphics are sometimes produced with lenticular graphic labels using 3-dimensional (3D) displays and animation. Lenticular lens material is used in the packaging industry for creating promotional material with appealing graphics and typically involves producing a sheet of lenticular lens material made up of a layer of lenticular lenses and an interlaced image is printed on the back side of the lens layer. The lenticular lens material is then attached to a separately produced object for display. The production of lenticular lenses is well known and described in detail in a number of U.S. patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,032 to Bravenec et al. In general, the production process includes selecting segments from visual images to create a desired visual effect and interlacing the segments (i.e., planning the layout of the numerous images to produce “interlaced images”). Lenticular lenses or lens sheets are then mapped to the interlaced or planned segments, and the lenticular lenses are fabricated according to this mapping. The lenticular lenses generally include a transparent web that has a flat side or layer and a side with optical ridges and grooves formed by lenticules (i.e., lenses) arranged side-by-side with the lenticules or optical ridges extending parallel to each other the length of the transparent web. To provide the unique visual effects, ink (e.g., four color ink) is applied to or printed directly on the flat side of the transparent web to form a thin ink layer, and this printed image or interlaced image is viewable through the transparent web of optical ridges.
In many applications, lenticular lens arrays and the associated interlaced images are not used due to the added cost per package or label. For example, many lenticular lens arrays require a lens thickness or material mass to achieve a desirable graphic effect, which adds undesirable material costs. Additionally, the material associated with a lenticular lens array may be 10 to 20 mils or more thick. Such arrays are often stiff or rigid, which makes the use of lenticlar lens arrays inappropriate for many applications that require flexible packaging or simply require very low packaging costs. For example, flexible, low cost packaging and/or labeling for chips and other snacks that use plastic or foil bags, for candy bars with thin foil wrappers, and for many other retail products that have foil or thin package walls or labels (e.g., label or wall thicknesses less than 10 or even 5 mils).
In addition to lenticular imaging devices, holography is also used in some cases to achieve visual effects such as with or in notebooks, software boxes, trading cards, and other products. While holography can be used in some packaging applications to differentiate a product, it is not widely in use in the retail industry. In part, this is due to high costs. Additionally, holography may not be effective at showing colors in many lighting situations in which retail products are displayed such as fluorescent lighting environments. Further, the origination may be very expensive for most holograms, and the fabrication (e.g., embossing) tools are typically unique and costly. The substrates or base materials used in holography assemblies and devices often are not desirable packaging materials, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Hence, there remains a need for packaging assemblies, products with graphic display assemblies or elements, and methods of producing labels, other packaging elements, and optical illusion or display devices that provide desirable graphic effects with acceptable added costs, e.g., at lower costs when compared with holography and conventional lenticular imaging in standard containers. Preferably such systems and methods would allow thin labels and often-used flexible packaging materials (such as foil and other bag and wrapper materials) to be utilized to create high quality, eye catching images.